SharePoker fans were transfixed in 2009 when Patrik Antonius was ahead by about $500,000 against Tom Dwan after 13,000 hands in the durrrr Challenge, only to suffer a hefty $2 million loss by the time around 40,000 hands were played.
The turn of events caused the Finnish poker pro to call it quits against Dwan with another 10,000 or so hands left to play. In an interview on Brandon Adams Podcast recently, Antonius revealed what went wrong in the high stakes heads-up match 13 years ago.
"I made one mistake on that challenge," Antonius lamented. "I agreed to play four tables at once, which I'd never done in my life, and I didn't even practice that. The most I'd ever played heads-up was two tables at once before."
Challengers Wanted
The durrrr Challenge - for people new to high stakes poker or for those who may have forgotten the details - was a proposal by Tom Dwan to any takers to play Pot Limit Omaha heads-up at stakes of $200/$400 for 50,000 hands. Dwan, who played online at Full Tilt Poker under the moniker of "durrrr", tossed in a bonus payment of $1.5 million to any challenger who could beat him.Antonius accepted the challenge and the match started out well for him, but Dwan eventually prevailed due to what Patrik described as "a completely different style than others, and I had a tough time adjusting to his play."
Dwan was arguably the hottest player on the planet at the time, providing fans with plenty of riveting high stakes poker action at Full Tilt. He went on to accept other challengers, including Dan "Jungleman" Cates, in a match that has to this day never been completed - with Cates holding a commanding lead.
But that's a story for another day, as the podcast with Brandon Adams is focused on Antonius and his penchant for high stakes gambling.
"I personally don't think I'm playing great poker when I'm playing smaller stakes," Antonius stated. "I'm just lacking that intensity in the game. I've been trying to motivate myself to play with intensity, but it's just not the same as when you're playing really high stakes."
Check out an intense hand with a $477K pot in the durrrr Challenge between Dwan and Antonius below:
